“Good morning,” said Malfoy quietly, entering her office. Hermione squared her shoulders slightly, watching as he sauntered closer to her desk, and then stood up, facing him.
"Everything's ready," she said, handing him a stack of parchments. “All is needed is your signature, and after that you will be free to buy... the things.”
Malfoy grinned, taking the parchments from her hands. His gaze lingered on her face before he leaned over the table, unceremoniously using her quill to sign. Hermione took a deep but soundless breath, watching the smooth movements of his wrist. Almost two months of work on his admission to the acquisition of dark artifacts did not pass without a trace — she increasingly did not realize her actions, unintentionally coming closer or lightly touching his elbow. She couldn't always control her eyes, which kept lingering on his lips or neck. And now... Now that they were at the finish line, she couldn't help but feel a little sad at the realization that he probably wouldn't need any more admissions.
“Great,” Malfoy straightened up, putting the documents in a folder. He was still grinning, giving her short glances, and Hermione was almost suffocating — these glances never affected her normally. “If you want, I'll send you one of these... things as a gift? For your help.”
Hermione closed her eyes for a second, smiling.
“No need,” she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, meeting his gaze again. Draco followed her movements, then took a step forward, meeting her eyes. It cost Hermione a herculean effort not to take a step back when he was so close that she could smell his cologne.
“What can I offer you then?”
Her breathing quickened as his hand reached for her hair. Hermione practically gasped when he touched her, and even though his question sounded completely normal, and the tone of his voice did not hint at a hidden subtext, Hermione simply could not think rationally. Draco pulled a piece of feather out of her hair, smiling as if he was amused by the sight of her.
“That's my job, isn't it?” she asked, taking a step closer.
Malfoy didn't move away, but raised an eyebrow, focusing his gaze on her eyes. Feeling awkward, Hermione ran her eyes over his face, stopping at his lips, then at his neck, and then again at his lips.
“You did more than your authority required of you,” his lips moved before her eyes, and she could not go against her desire to freeze, not daring to move or look away. “And for that, I would like to thank you.”
“Yeah,” she said blankly, finally taking her eyes off his lips. She noticed his own eyes moving over her face, and froze when he reached for her again.
Draco fingered a hair off her shoulder, sending a tickle through her body. It looked ridiculous, and Hermione hoped that he was doing it just to touch her once again. Her Gryffindor bravery woke up as soon as she remembered that his most inherent trait was pride, and the most terrible, in his opinion, was his wounded pride.
She remembered the time when they met at the Ministry or Diagon Alley. How grown up and unlike himself of the past he was, how she started working on his admission, spending almost every day in his company, how he looked at her, how he spoke and joked good-naturedly. Hermione was washed away by the current of his charm, as if she was in a mountain river, and now... now she was ready to swim out.
Hermione carefully closed the remaining distance between them, and before she could change her mind, she gently grabbed his face in her hands and pressed her lips to his.
She didn't even remember what they were talking about a minute ago — all the space in her head was occupied by the pounding of her heart, beating a rhythm to the very tips of her fingers. His smooth skin under her palms; the feeling of him so close — she didn't have a chance to stay in her mind.
Fireworks exploded under her eyelids, and the feeling of fullness and overabundance of feelings and emotions was so delicious that she did not even focus on the fact that they did not continue the kiss — they were just standing, pressing their lips to each other, and before anything could change, they were interrupted by a voice coming from from someone's visiting patronus.
The swan spoke in the voice of Narcissa Malfoy:
"Draco Malfoy! You promised to be at the manor by three, your fiancée has been here for a long time! Please hurry up before I run out of patience."
Hermione felt the heat on her cheeks as the patronus disappeared into thin air, leaving them in an awkward silence. She almost slapped her forehead, scolding herself in every way in her head. What an idiot! She pounced on him, imagining for herself who knows what, but he had... he had a fiancée.
Damn it, she should have been stripped of the title of the smartest witch a long time ago.
“Granger—” Draco began, sobering her up. She didn't even want to look him in the eye — she was sure that it would just completely bury her in a pit of shame.
Hermione quickly pulled her wand from the waistband of her skirt and pointed it at Malfoy, only briefly noticing the panic and blush on his cheeks. As if he already knew what she was going to do.
“Granger, wait—”
“Obliviate.”
For a second, time seemed to freeze. Malfoy's gaze was blank, but still directed at her. Hermione managed to sit down at her desk, pretending to be busy with work, when he came to his senses, slightly clearing his throat.
"Well," he drawled, glancing at the watch. “I have to go.”
Hermione nodded, not even looking up.
"I'll send you an owl," he said, and that made her look at him.
“Why?”
But Malfoy just grinned and left her office, giving Hermione the freedom for a slowly rolling tantrum.
She ignored his owl, of course. She couldn't even bring herself to get up from her seat when she saw a bird on the windowsill. As a result, the poor guy waited for an hour before discontentedly hooting and flying away. Hermione couldn't understand why he was contacting her when he was probably with his fiancée. But she didn't want to delve into it.
That day she returned home later than usual, and was surprised to find three letters on her windowsill. They were all from Malfoy.
Hermione unhurriedly took off her coat and walked to the window, taking a deep breath. It was stupid to ignore the letters now, so she took the bottom one and carefully broke the seal, began to read.
"Granger, thank you again for your help. You have no idea how important this is to us. Especially for my mother. I'd like to ask about your plans for Friday evening. Do you think I have a chance to expect your consent for dinner?"
Hermione closed her eyes for a second, indignant at his suggestion. How could his fiancée still be with him? Did he really take all the people who helped him to dinner? And looked at them… like that?
"My owl just came back. You probably just left your workplace or you're just incredibly busy and I probably shouldn't worry, but still. I decided to forward both letters straight to your flat, and ask my question again. Dinner?"
"My owl came back again without an answer. I know that your working day ended an hour ago. Are you ignoring me? If you're against it, you can just write "no", it's not necessary to behave like a smug bitch."
Hermione didn't have time to get angry because of his last letter, as a familiar owl flew in through the still open window and threw the letter into her hands, and without even looking at the owner of the flat, sat down on the windowsill to the other side of the window.
With a sharp movement, Hermione tore up the letter that had just arrived, an answer full of indignation had already formed in her head.
"I'm sorry about the last letter, I didn't mean what I wrote. I'm sorry. I just want certainty, you know? Please let me know your answer as soon as you have time."
Hermione grabbed a clean parchment from the bookshelf and quickly wrote a short answer, closed the window, no longer wanting to let anything his into her space.
“Come in.”
Hermione turned to the door that opened and frowned, watching Draco Malfoy enter her office once again. As if she was still working on his problems.
"Good morning," he said, sitting down in the chair opposite. There was a slight smile on his face, but the constant combing of his hair betrayed nervousness.
"Good morning," Hermione replied, even managing to return his smile. Even the presence of a fiancée did not discourage her attraction to him. “How can I help you?”
“Actually," Draco hesitated. "I have something for you."
He took an envelope from the inside pocket of his coat and, after turning it over in his hands for a few seconds, put it on the table in front of her.
“I didn't want to be ignored again... That's why I brought it personally.”
Hermione looked at him suspiciously, then took the envelope.
"I told you I was busy—”
"Yes, I remember," he sounded as if he didn't believe in her assurances at all. “In any case, these are tickets to the exhibition you wanted to go to. Since you can't spare time for me after work, then... perhaps you will accept it?”
Hermione looked into the envelope, and pursed her lips, fighting a smile when she saw two tickets to the natural science exhibition at the London Museum, which she really wanted to get to. She had only mentioned it once in front of Draco, and now she was surprised that he remembered. And also got tickets. She wondered if he assumed that she would give him the second ticket? Or he didn’t care who she went with?
"I already told you more than once that you don't have to do anything in return for my work," Hermione smiled at his attempt to object. “But so be it, I'll accept it. Thanks.”
Draco nodded, watching in a relaxed way as she pulled the tickets out of the envelope. Hermione noticed a flash of expectation and curiosity in his eyes as she held one of the tickets in her hands, as if she couldn't decide what to do with it. Then she put another one back in the envelope, and put it in the enchanted drawer, calling Harry's name.
Malfoy frowned as he heard the letter fly to Potter.
"Are you going to invite Potter with you?" he asked, curling his lips.
"Well, yes," Hermione shrugged. “He was the only one who looked interested when I told him about the exhibition.”
She expected Draco to object, saying that he was also interested, but he just nodded again and got up from his chair, brushing off his coat.
“I see, have a good time.”
And without waiting for her answer, he left the office.
“Are there always so many people here?”
Hermione froze for a second with a fork in her mouth when Draco sat down in the seat opposite. With irritation on his face and a tray overflowing with a lot of food, he looked quite comical in the atmosphere of the ministerial dining hall.
"I don't know, I don't usually come here," Hermione replied, hiding a smile behind a glass of juice. “What are you doing here?” she raised an eyebrow.
“I needed to register new artifacts. I waited for two hours, and then this oaf said it was time for lunch and just left. And then I noticed you," on the last words, he loosened his tie, glancing sideways. “And yes, I followed you.”
Hermione shook her head, taking another sip of juice. Her appetite abruptly disappeared when Malfoy invaded her personal space again. Over the past two weeks, he had appeared in front of her too often, as if they still had something in common. It was hard for Hermione to behave indifferently every time and refuse to attend meetings with him after work. Questions about his fiancée kept running through her head.
“Did you buy the whole range?”
Draco looked down at his tray, then grimaced.
“Actually, I'm not hungry.”
“Were looking for a reason to sit down with me?” Hermione realized too late that her tone sounded like she was flirting. Her smile was slowly fading, but before she could say anything else, Malfoy grinned, leaning back in his chair.
“Yes.”
She shouldn't have blushed, but she did it anyway.
“I've already finished, and I have a million things to do. Therefore...”
She got up without finishing, and rushed out, feeling dissatisfied. She was still hungry, and again behaved inappropriately in his presence. Perhaps it was worth finding her courage once again and talking to him frankly. To stop being afraid that he would finally disappear from her life. To finally think about herself and her mental health, because every time he appeared on the horizon, she felt as if her brains had been blown out.
This Malfoy, who was able to attract her attention, seduce her. Who looked at her as if there was no fiancée. Who had been stalking her for two weeks. Who acted so cruelly towards two girls. How could she have fallen into this trap?
Hermione slammed the door to her office, exhaling loudly, as if she hadn't breathed all the way from the dining hall. A moment later, the door swung open again and, turning, she saw Draco again.
“What are you—”
“You're avoiding me.”
Hermione blinked.
“Excuse me?”
“You're avoiding me.”
"Why are you stalking me?" She almost screamed, causing Draco to fall into a stupor.
"Stalking you?"
Hermione crossed her arms over her chest, resisting the urge to take back her words. Perhaps "stalking" was too loud a word, but since they had started this conversation, she wasn't going to back down.
"I'm not stalking you," Draco said after a long pause. “It’s just… it wasn't difficult for you to go out for lunch or dinner together before. Or exchange letters. Or just to chat. I thought—” he paused, pursing his lips.
“You thought what?” Hermione felt that something very important was being decided now; she almost held her breath from waiting.
“Just look at it from my side. We saw each other here for two months, communicated well, went to lunch together. You've never acted like we're back at school in the last couple of years. And as soon as I signed the papers, you turned into this.”
"Probably because I kissed you and then found out you had a bloody fiancée?"
No, she couldn't tell him that truth. She tried with all her might to get this shameful moment out of her head, and if she had to push him away for the sake of preserving her heart, then she would do it.
"I just don't understand your motives," she said carefully, folding her hands behind her back. She turned away, taking a step towards the window. “It's still strange for me that we communicate like this. I'm not used to your presence in my life and I don't know how to behave. Do you want us to become friends? Or do you want some specific benefit? Or—” she sighed, turning to face him again. “I do not know what to think.”
“I definitely don't want any benefits," Draco said in a firm voice. He confidently approached her, enveloping her in his scent again.
It was like deja vu. As on the very day when her hopes burst into sparks and disappeared into thin air along with his mother's patronus.
Draco's hand reached out to her, his fingers picked up a hair stuck to her blouse near the collarbone. Hermione swallowed hard.
"I'm not used to your absence in my life," it was a whisper that broke on her lips when he slightly brought his face closer to hers. His gaze was searching, as if he was reading her reaction to his actions.
“And what does your fiancée think about my presence in your life?” Hermione also asked in a whisper and froze, now reading his reaction.
“What?”
"Your fiancée, Malfoy. Does she not care that you communicate with another in this way?”
"I don't have a fiancée," Draco said tensely, pulling a giggle out of Hermione.
“I remember very well your mother said you do.”
“When did she say that? Have you talked to my mother?”
Hermione pursed her lips. What was she supposed to say next? Maybe she shouldn't have mentioned Narcissa. After all, his memory of her patronus was also erased.
“What does it matter? she sighed. “Sorry, but—”
"I don't have a fiancée anymore.”
“What?”
“That stone," he jerked his head to the side, as if the object was right there. “For the acquisition of which you worked on my admission. It was needed to destroy the engagement agreement. My father signed this agreement a million years ago, and no one but him was happy about it. My mother literally jumped for joy when we broke the connection.”
Hermione felt as if she had been bound by heavy chains until that moment, and only now, after his words, she could breathe deeply. She could feel light. She could look him in the eye without remembering her mistake.
“What did she dislike about the girl so much?” there were so many thoughts in her head, but her brain decided to ask this question. She wasn't even sure she was going to listen to his answer.
"She calls her a hollow-headed.”
Draco didn't even blink as he looked at her expectantly, slowly getting closer and closer.
“What would she say about me?”
"Oh, she almost worships you. She's been telling me all about you.”
“Is that why you decided to communicate with me?”
“She started pushing me after I started talking to you.”
“So, your desire is independent, sincere and keen?” she grinned. Draco looked like he was ready to pounce on her right now and either rip her throat out or fuck the life out of her.
“You have no idea how keen it is.”
Hermione sighed, carefully closed the distance between them, cupped his face with her hands and pressed her lips to his.
Draco responded instantly, pressing her body to him. Her lips parted and she moaned as he bit the bottom one. She grabbed his shoulders, then buried her fingers in his hair. Everything was perfect. Everything was exactly as it should have been the first time. Now that everything was resolved, it felt like the last piece of the puzzle finally fell into place.
"I need to tell you something," Hermione said against his lips, pulling away. His appearance was charming — with a sparkle in his eyes, tousled hair, slightly flushed cheeks. Unconsciously, she admired him.
“Later,” he clung to her again, catching her under her knees. Hermione didn't resist and clung to him, kissing him with such desperation, as if the world would end the next minute. Or another patronus would tell her about another secret fiancée.
Hermione felt his palms under her blouse and was glad that this memory would remain with both of them.